


Keelhauled

by Half_PintGladiator



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Blood and Gore, Denial, F/F, Frenemies, Mildly Dubious Consent, Rewrite, Rough Sex, Snark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-16
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-02-03 03:58:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12740571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Half_PintGladiator/pseuds/Half_PintGladiator
Summary: (v) To punish someone by dragging them under a ship.Nisha Kadam survives her showdown with the vault hunters only to find her life in the hands of her best frenemy Scarlett. Clashing egos and desires drive the two as they try to adapt to life together.Rewrite of Sand Scourge.





	1. Sheriff's Fall

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TrashCandy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrashCandy/gifts), [ForYeWhoArtLiterate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForYeWhoArtLiterate/gifts).



> I finally got around to rewriting Sand Scourge. The original is still going to stay up, but solely due to all the old comments and kudos. Major thanks to ForYeWhoArtLiterate and TrashCandy for sitting through this ordeal. <3, guys!
> 
> Updates will not be regular due to the fact that I am still working on the rewrite.

"This is Hunter Helquist of Hyperion Truth Broadcasting. Once more the Vault Hunters have struck down a valued member of the community. The Sheriff of Lynchwood, is dead. It has been confirmed that her death was ordered by the bandit Brick. Handsome Jack is calling for the deaths of any and all Vault Hunters involved in the murder. See your Hyperion Bounty Board for more details. This is Hunter Helquist signing off."

Nisha sure as hell didn’t know what she was expecting, but she was damn certain that death didn’t hurt like a bitch. Her right eye throbbed in agony. The fingers of her left hand were numb. Opening her eyes took serious effort-- and much to her chagrin only one eye opened. She blinked back a sudden flow of hot tears. Her eyes streamed until her vision cleared, at least for her left eye. Nisha tried moving her left hand. Her fingers curled sluggishly. 

“Well, someone finally decided to join the world of the living once again.”

The chipper voice, while grating, would have been welcome at any other time. As weak as she was, Nisha had very little patience for the voice’s owner. 

“Fuck, I went to hell after all.”

“Pleasure to see you too, Nisha. After I was kind enough to rescue my bee-eff-eff from certain death.”

If Nisha had the strength, she would have rolled over and glared full on at Scarlett. She settled for mumbling “I never asked for a rescue” under her breath. “Where the hell am I? And how long have I been out?”

Nisha heard rustling from beside her. She painstakingly inched her way onto her side, hissing in pain the entire way. Scarlett was seated in an ornately carved chair, something that looked like it had been stolen off an off-world antique pirate ship. Nisha couldn’t make out all the details save for the fact that it was in a rich red wood and she saw what looked like a mermaid. Scarlett crossed her legs, her left ankle resting on her prosthetic knee. 

“Erm, well, I’ll start off with the easy part. You’re on the Bacchanal. Which, it’s about time that you stayed for more than a short visit. As for the other bit…”

Scarlett rubbed the back of her neck, squirming uncomfortably in her chair. Nisha watched as she worked her jaw, the tic giving away the fact that Scarlett was trying very hard not to lie.

“Er.. You’ve been out for a week. Mostly that’s my fault seeing as I don’t really do medicine and settled for knocking you out until either you died or we reached port.”

Nisha released her breath slowly. Her jaw tensed. Her knuckles lost their color as she curled her hand into a fist. 

“A week? What the hell has happened? Why the hell hasn’t Jack come for me?”

Scarlett uncrossed her legs. She leaned forward in her chair, arms resting on her knees. Her eye was focused slightly above Nisha. The twitch in her jaw was back. Nisha forced herself to breathe.

“I’m so sorry I have to tell you this, blast my honesty streak, but… Jack’s dead.”

Nisha released a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. She was expecting herself to fly into a rage; expected the rise of bloodlust. Instead she felt nothing. No anger, not even a flicker of guilt. 

“Some hero he was.”

Scarlett leaned over her, pressing her palm to Nisha’s forehead. “Are you alright? You shed more bloody tears opening your eye than you did for you boyfriend.”

“I shouldn’t be alive, I’m on your ship--” Nisha paused, trying to get a glimpse of the room she was in. She couldn’t see much but the little bit that she could see screamed “Scarlett”. 

“I’m in your cabin aren’t I?”

“Actually, you’re in my bed.”

“I hate you.”

“We’ve already established that you don’t.” 

“Bull.”

Scarlett hitched a shoulder lazily. She settled her hat on the dresser beside her. She started on unpinning her epaulet while Nisha attempted to study the room. 

“How long do I have before you try stabbing me in the back?”

The shoulder piece hit the dresser with a louder thump than Nisha thought was necessary. She glanced up and saw that whatever traces of a smile Scarlett usually wore were gone. 

“Dunno. I try not to stab someone in the back when they’re down. There’s one kind of upper hand and then there’s the cheap upper hand. I’d like to consider myself an honourable pirate.”

Nisha rolled her eyes and immediately regretted the action. Tears streamed from her eyes once more, she cursed softly as she waited for the agony to subside. A few ragged breaths escaped her. Slow blinking restored vision to her eye. She soon wished that she hadn’t looked at the spot where Scarlett had stacked up her accessories. 

“The hell are you doing?”

“Getting ready for bed, that’s what.”

“And where are you sleeping?”

“In my bed, obviously.”

A fresh flood of panic surged through Nisha. She couldn’t do anything but stare lamely at the wall as Scarlett got out of her chair and crossed to the other side of the bed.

“No, no, no, no.” It came out in rapid fire bursts, almost one sound. 

Nisha tried to sit up. She tried to find a way out of the bed, any way to avoid being that close to Scarlett. She didn’t have nearly enough strength to move more than halfway to an upright position. Her effort ended with her back hitting the mattress and a string of curses. 

“My ship, my rules. I could help you onto the floor, but you might end up on the other end of the cabin or crushed by furniture since we’re moving the ship to the other end of Wurmwater. Hopefully you don’t get sandsick.”

Nisha folded her arms over her chest. She edged herself closer to the corner of the mattress. She had the distinct feeling she was being childish and that the bed was easily large enough for two grown women to share it without touching, but still, gross. She felt Scarlett’s eye on her. She wanted to retch at Scarlett’s soft chuckle. 

“Oh calm down, I don’t have wandering… hand. Pretend that wasn’t awkward. I’ll get something set up for you in the morning. After some much needed beauty rest. For you, not me: I’m already stunning.”

Nisha made a gagging noise from her awkward corner of the bed. She had a desperate urge to wipe the inevitable grin off of Scarlett’s face. A loud thunk from the other side of the room startled her out of her reverie. She whipped around, her vision blurring, her head throbbing. 

“Really, Nisha, take it easy. That was just my leg. The, er, metal one, not the real one. I’d be quite horrified if that one fell off.”

Nisha lifted an eyebrow. Scarlett’s shoulders drooped a little, but the damn smile was back on her face again in no time. 

“I am going to take off my hook. Look, I’m doing it realllllyyyy slowly.”

She made a point of slowly lowering her hook to the ground. Nisha felt the urge to strangle Scarlett rising once more. 

“Oh look, now I only have one hand that I can grope you with.”

“What?!”

“I’m kidding.” Scarlett waited a beat before she crawled into the bed. “Mostly.”

She was sound asleep shortly after burying herself under the covers. Her soft snores assaulted Nisha’s ears. Nisha shifted until she was on her back. Her arms settled over her chest, her lips pursed slightly. That had been one hell of a wake up call. She was alive, the vault hunters had won, and now she was stuck with the backstabbing buccaneer. 

At some point, Nisha succumbed to slumber. She had tried to fight it, but the need to sleep prevailed. She awoke to find Scarlett’s arm wrapped around her waist. Scarlett was snoring in her ear. A quick glance to her right told her that she was very nearly on the floor. Grumbling to herself, she started prying Scarlett’s arm off of her. Finding her feet proved to be far more difficult than she expected. Her legs wobbled beneath her. Her first few steps were clumsy and misguided. Just as she was starting to gain confidence the skiff lurched and she tripped over an ammo crate. She wasn’t entirely sure how she managed it, but her legs were draped over a metal pirate’s chest and her ass was wedged between the chest and the wall. She found herself wishing for death as she desperately swiped her bangs out of her eyes.

“What exactly, are you doing, Nisha?”

“Trying to walk. Not sure how you manage it with one eye.” 

“Years of practice, though actually, I do have both eyes. One is just cybernetic. Oh, and damn good balance. Do you, er, do you need a hand?”

“I swear that if you throw your stupid hook at me I am going to put a bullet in your brain myself.”

“I’m not too worried; you can barely walk.”

Nisha watched as Scarlett slowly started doing up the straps that held her prosthetic leg in place. 

“Fuck off, stumpy.”

The slightly uneven footsteps made by one bare foot and one metal foot on simulated wood was nearly drowned out by the sound of the engines some two decks below them. 

“That was a little low, Nisha, but I’ll give it to you. Not a morning person, I take it?”

Nisha’s palms scrabbled against faux wood paneling. Her palms were slick and she couldn’t get purchase. She sunk back into the gap, surveying the room. Faux wood paneling in a rich mahogany red. Gold inlay. A large desk near a large window. There was a freaking dagger sticking out of the middle of the desk. There was one of the dinky little lifesavers found on old-timey ships on the wall. The nautical theme was taken just a tad too far. 

“I could have sworn I told Shipper to weigh anchor by now. Fifth time that little bugger ignored me. Guess I have to kill him. Unless you’d like to do the honors.”

Scarlett paused just shy of where Nisha was stuck. She caught Nisha’s roving eye and beamed.

“What do you think? Bloody brilliant isn’t it? I spent hours trying to get the right look.”

“Just… help me up. This is embarrassing.” 

The chest started inching away from her, her ass sliding further into the gap. Once more her hands struggled for a grip on the wall. 

“I’m not quite sure why you’d want to sit there. I’d give you points for originality, but take off some for a lack of finesse.”

Normally when Nisha scowled, bandits ran for cover. Some would beg for their lives or for mercy. Scarlett… Scarlett just grinned. Scarlett extended her hand, taking a hold on Nisha’s upper arm before she started pulling her companion up. Nisha’s bare feet slid on the wood floor until she was upright. Her leg had fallen asleep at one point which led her to falling right into Scarlett’s arms. 

“Falling for me already? Last night you told me you hated me, but now you’ve come around.”

“I’m so killing you one day.” Nisha shoved away from Scarlett, shaking her head in disgust. 

“How disappointing; I help you and you threaten to kill me. Huh, I could make a pirate of you yet.” 

Nisha tugged at the hem of her baggy shirt only to pause. The striped shirt was almost long enough to touch her knees; it definitely didn’t belong to her. She let her gaze drop to the equally baggy pants she was clad in. She was keenly aware of the fact that she was not wearing any of her usual undergarments. Or any undergarments for that matter. 

“Red, who the hell dressed me?”

“Obviously no one but myself.”

Scarlett paused for a moment. Nisha’s nose scrunched, her upper lip twitched back just slightly. 

“Would you have preferred someone else? I couldn’t save your leathers, they were utterly destroyed. But just think, we could make a day of finding you new clothes!”

Nisha took a tottering step away from Scarlett, nose scrunching in disgust. She had been tempted to roll her eyes, but remembered the excruciating pain and settled for pursing her lips. Her path carried her to the nearest dresser for a chance to look herself over. 

“Gr-eat.” She mumbled as she rested her palms along the old wood. 

“Now you’re just being a real downer. This could be our bestie bonding time, Nish.”

“I nearly die and you want ‘bestie bonding time.’”

“It’s not like we ever see each other.”

“You saw a hell of a lot of me when you dressed me, you bitch.”

“Do you really think I was looking? Should I have looked?”

Nisha glared over her shoulder as she started pulling up her shirt to look at her shoulder. Behind her Scarlett was starting her preparations for the day. She hesitated when her shirt got to her chest. A few old, whitish scars lined her stomach, old wounds from bandit raids. If anything she needed a little sun, but she ignored the thought as she hitched her shirt the rest of the way up. Bandages were wound around her shoulder, ending just above her breasts. Apparently Scarlett decided that bullet wound triage meant wrapping the ever loving hell out of the wound and calling it a night. It explained the numb fingers, though. Nothing a few med hypos and a non-Zed doctor couldn’t fix. Her eye, though… Nisha let go of the hem of her shirt as she released a slow breath. She finally forced herself to meet her reflection.

Bandages wound around her head, covering almost the entire right side of her face. She turned her head, cringing at the few scars that trailed below the bandages. Whichever Vault Hunter shot her had damn good aim. She ran her finger over the worst of the wounds peeking out of her bandages. She was so caught up in examining her scars that she didn’t notice Scarlett approaching her. 

“You’re pretty lucky to be alive, if I do say so myself. They must’ve used a Torgue or something that fires very quickly. Or else your shield did a bang up job protecting you. I was occupied with other matters-- mostly making sure I can transport two people with a personal teleporter.”

“Personal teleporter? Atlas tech?”

“I got it from an ex-Atlas type.”

“Lemme guess, blue hair, resting bitch face.”

“Exactly!” 

“Athena.” 

“Oh, you knew her.”

“We worked together on Elpis. I could’ve sworn I told you that. Now where’s this asshole you want me to kill?”

Nisha brushed past Scarlett, ignoring her gesture to share more. Nisha’s initial scowl turned into a small smirk when she heard the frustrated groan from behind her. Quick as a flash, Scarlett joined her once more, easing back into a smile. Nisha side-eyed her as she made her way to the door. Scarlett stopped her, slipping an arm through hers. 

“Not-uh, can’t have you wandering about. You’ll get lost.”

“Like hell I will.”

“You get lost all the time, Nish.”

Nisha opened her mouth to argue, waited a beat, and then shut her mouth. She tried to pull her arm away from Scarlett, but to her chagrin, she had a firm grip.

“Fine. Show me to him.”

She started toward the door again, but Scarlett pulled her back. Once more a warm palm brushed her forehead. For a moment she considered cracking a stupid pun, but then remembered herself. Leave the puns to Athena. 

“Are you sure you’re alright? You’re being awfully cooperative.”

“You’re going the right way to lose your other hand.”

“Oh, good, you are feeling well.”

Nisha lifted her uninjured shoulder in a half-assed shrug. Scarlett watched her for a moment, waiting for the inevitable strike. Nothing. With a shrug of her own, she pulled Nisha toward the foredeck.

“So what’s the deal with this guy, anyway?”

“Oh, well, he really likes to erm,” She paused, making air quotes with one hand. “‘Ship’ members of the crew together. It’s a romantic thing or whatever. I think he used to be an EchoNet blogger or something like that. Oh, I wonder if he would ship us. Probably. But I don’t want him dead for that, of course. That’s just a hobby.”

Nisha eventually tuned Scarlett out, letting her ramble on and on about how Shipper was one of the most useless crewmen around. The chatter cut out when they reached the deck. Nisha cringed in the harsh sunlight. Her eye slowly adjusted to the bright desert sun. The crimson sands here weren’t so different from the ones bordering her beloved Lynchwood. The men scattered across the bow were bedecked in various shades of sun bleached scarlet. Nisha scanned the deck, hoping that the midget shoving a bucket around the deck was her target. Eventually she caught on to Scarlett pointing and her heart sank.

Shipper was an Anchorman. A man so huge he rivaled Brick in his mass. Before Nisha could open her mouth to protest, she felt the grip of a pistol being shoved into her hand. It wasn’t Scarlett’s favorite gun, Greed, but a sleeker model. A Jakob’s custom. 

“Go ahead, Nish. I love watching you work.”

“Oh my god, you are so cute together!” The man had a high, reedy voice. 

Nisha lifted the borrowed pistol, squeezed off a few rounds. The first shot arced wide. The second hit at her target’s feet. Narrowing her eyes, Nisha lined up, bracing her gun hand with her free hand. Her shot finally made its target even after Shipper lunged to the side to get away from her. It took the rest of her rounds to take him down. Her arms dropped to her side, the pistol weighing down her right arm. Her left shoulder burned. She gritted her teeth, taking a few shaky breaths. 

“You did that on purpose, you bitch.”

“You got mad, didn’t you? Though I think he makes a good point.”

“In your dreams.”

Nisha regretted turning her head. Scarlett’s grin made her more uncomfortable than she anticipated. Nisha shook it off, jamming the gun back into Scarlett’s hand. She scowled, her nose turning up at the corner. Scarlett’s finger brushed just beneath the bandages, tracing one of the new scars. Nisha jerked away. 

“I wasn’t kidding about destroying your other hand.”

Scarlett didn’t bother answering her, just turned on the ball on her foot, with a quick twitch of her finger. Nisha stared after her.

“Come along, Nish. Let’s see about getting you a new eye.”

“I --” Nisha let the comment drop. There really was no point in arguing. Not when she needed the replacement eye and bad.


	2. New-U

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning: this chapter contains eye gore.

Rust colored sand whipped beneath the jets of the sand skiff. As far as Nisha could see they were the only vehicle for miles, all that surrounded them was barren sand and old shipwrecks. The only sound was the roar of the boosters and the hiss of jets. Nisha rotated her gunner’s seat, toying with the controls. She surveyed the sands, drinking in her surroundings. Behind her, Scarlett was perfectly at ease in the pilot’s chair. Tweaking the controls, Nisha turned back to the front where she spotted sand worms. 

They were ugly, sinewy creatures. Nisha lined up her harpoon gun and speared one with the press of a button. It exploded into a cloud of green ichor, staining the crimson sands. Despite her best efforts to control herself, Nisha felt a small grin twist her lips. Her shoulder throbbed from her twisting in her seat to watch the worm’s guts splatter across the ground. She eased herself back into her seat properly, massaging her shoulder.

“Are you alright, Nisha?”

“I’m ready to get this over with.”

Scarlett let silence blanket them. Nisha had to hand it to her; sometimes Scarlett did know when to shut up. For a while Nisha contented herself blowing up sand worms. Each little cloud of ichor told her she was in a world she didn’t know nearly as well as she hoped. This was a far cry from the skags and bandits of Lynchwood. 

“So, where are we going, exactly?”

“A little town called Oasis.”

Nisha rolled her wrist in a gesture for Scarlett to continue. Apparently Scarlett was much too focused on navigation to notice her.

“What about it?”

“Well, it’s abandoned now. Used to be home to a weird little man named Shade and his collection of well-preserved corpses slash mannequins. Don’t worry, he’s gone now; not dead, just went over to Prosperity Junction. Bloody good riddance if you ask me. Our contact is waiting for us there and after that we’ll raid a few of the old boutiques, get you set up for the pirate’s life. Exciting, yeah?”

Nisha lifted her right shoulder in a brief shrug. She favored her left shoulder, cringing with each movement after her shootout with Shipper. She speared yet another sand worm with her harpoon, not even bothering to watch the explosion of guts. 

“How far are we?”

“If you’d look up from your little killing spree, you’d see it.”

Nisha turned her focus back on the expanse before her. She rotated the gunner’s chair slightly to get a better look at the town looming on the horizon. As they drew nearer, Nisha could make out brightly colored buildings in colors that undoubtedly had names like Caribbean Blue and Flamingo Pink. The multi-leveled buildings were coated in cracked stucco, making them look like vacation homes for the destitute. A bright neon sign lit up a small booth.

“Looks like a tourist trap.”

“It was.”

“Is it clear?”

“Unless you count tumbleweeds and the bodies that Shade collected, yes.”

Nisha grimaced, shuddering slightly. She settled back in her seat, listening to the worn leather and springs groan. She thought she would be more restless knowing that she was going to lose her eye. Her fingers strayed, brushing the bandages. She felt nothing, no pang of loss. Just the dull throb of her injury and the occasional searing burn when she moved her eye. 

Scarlett eased their skiff into a covered dock next to an old Catch-a-Ride system. She shut off the thrusters. The skiff settled onto the ground with a solid thump. The hull sunk a little into the sand. 

“All ashore that’s going ashore!”

“Do you really have to?”

Scarlett flipped the bird at her as she dismounted the skiff. Nisha watched her move, waiting for a sign of hostility. All she got was a motion for her to hurry up. Nisha hopped down from the gunner’s seat, feeling her borrowed boots sink into the sand.

“Come on, don’t keep the doctor waiting. He’s a busy man and he costs an a-- No, I am not going to say it.”

Once she caught up to Scarlett, Nisha clapped her on the shoulder, applying more force than necessary. Scarlett wobbled on her feet for a moment, shooting a glare at Nisha, who completely blew her off.

“Lead the way.”

It was unnerving to walk through a dead town with a silent Scarlett. Nisha spotted a few of the unusually well preserved corpses that Shade called his friends. She gave each a wide berth, grimacing in disgust. For once, Nisha desperately hoped Scarlett would open her mouth and start in on her usual chatter. Nisha pulled out her borrowed SMG, keep her grip tight, her trigger finger ready to go. Like hell was she going down without a fight if Scarlett decided she was a liability. Scarlett continued a few paces ahead of her, casually leading her through trash-strewn streets as though it was a walk in a park somewhere pleasant. Scarlett stopped outside of a building with a metal door. She raised her hand, rapping on the metal door in a few quick bursts. Nisha unconsciously tightened her grip on her gun. Her trigger finger started twitching. The portico opened with a low creak. 

“Hurry up now, Ah don’t got all day.” The speaker’s drawl was all too familiar to Nisha. 

They were hustled into the building, the door slamming shut behind them. The room they stepped into was largely empty save for an old dentist’s chair, a metal cart, and an oil barrel. The doctor in question was a dead ringer for Zed Blanco. Save for the fact that his name tag read “Ed”. Nisha ticked an item off of her bucket list: backalley surgery with blackmarket cybernetics. She had a feeling she made Wilhelm proud; the poor bastard. Scarlett made a wide sweeping motion with her hand. Nisha shoved her SMG in Scarlett’s hand, watching her fumble as she brushed past. 

A small cloud of dust rose when she took a seat in the old dentist’s chair. The patent leather squeaked underneath her. Almost immediately after she took her seat, Ed was over her, setting up clamps to hold her eyelid open. He cut off the old bandages, tossing them aside as he assessed what was left of her eyelid. 

“They got ya real good. But ya got most of your eyelid. Ah got you a Hyperion EchoEye. Works better’n a real eye and easier to get yer hands on in the black market.”

Nisha heard Scarlett huff a breath and mutter about cybernetics being far more advanced since she got her cyber eye. Nisha made a mental note to rip off Scarlett’s eye patch at the first chance she got. Scarlett caught her eye and offered a slight smile before she headed toward the door, her grip on the SMG light. One never knew when a rival pirate crew could arrive in harbor. Scarlett settled herself near the slot in the door, ready to step outside and draw fire if necessary. 

Ed pulled a sterilizing wipe from his pocket and started wiping down the clamps; something unusual for a Blanco, but Nisha wasn’t about to knock it. Nothing to it, a quick surgery with a scalpel, an ocular hook-up, no big-- Nisha found herself trying to scramble away from Ed when he pulled a metal spork out of his pocket. He passed another sterilizing wipe over the utensil, a grin creasing his ever-present surgical mask. Nisha tried to get away only to realize that he had strapped her wrists down.

“I could have sworn you liked pain, Nisha.”

“He’s going to shove a fucking spork in my eye socket!”

She couldn’t see Scarlett, but she had a distinct feeling Scarlett was shrugging nonchalantly. 

“Could be worse. You should have seen how my eye went. I’m glad I killed my father after that incident.”

Nisha’s knuckles whitened as Ed loomed in over her. The spork sunk in just above her lower eyelid, digging in. Warm blood ran down Nisha’s cheek. Her left eye streamed burning tears. Teeth gritted, she held as still as she could manage. By the time her optic nerve was severed she started laughing a high, hysterical laugh. She could taste her own blood. Her laughter became reedier at the sound of Scarlett retching when her old eye was splattered on the floor. Her laughter became wheezes as Ed hooked up her new eye. It slipped into her eye socket easily enough. At first her vision was tinted red. A few slow blinks later her vision cleared. 

A soft whirring noise let her know that her eye was zooming in. Ed mumbled something about the sound shutting itself off after a while. Nisha savored the look of unadulterated horror on Scarlett’s face; her companion had paled and was trying not to look over at the bloody mess on the floor. Scarlett’s lips were stretched thin, her brow furrowed.Nisha’s new eye automatically adjusted back to the size of a normal pupil. Ed handed her a cloth and an antiseptic wipe. He took a few steps back as he undid the straps holding Nisha’s wrists in place.

“Yer all set. The eye should be good for life, maybe after. Here’s a manual Ah managed to snag. Iff’n you need somethin’ like that. You’ll need this too.”

He tossed Nisha a med hypo with a wink. 

“And Ah’m out of here, Scarlett. Iff’n you need me, you know how to find me.”

Nisha watched as Scarlett handed over a wad of bills to Ed. They exchanged a few quick words and he was gone, disappearing into the bright sunlight. Nisha slammed the med hypo into the crook of her arm. She leaned back into the chair, the worn patent creaking ominously. The fuzzy haze of a good dose of painkiller hit her like a freight train. The metal door slammed shut but Nisha paid it no mind. She only jerked back into semi-consciousness when she felt Scarlett passing the antiseptic wipe over her face. She flinched away from the touch at first. Scarlett passed the old rag under her other eye, drying up the last of the tears from the extraction. 

“I wuz gonna do that.” Her tongue felt thick and heavy. She had trouble keeping her eyes open. Panic ran through her for a moment until the haze settled back in again.

“Seems he gave you the good stuff. I’ll give you a bit to rest, then we’ll go and get you fitted.”

“Why’re you doin’ this?” Forming words was a struggle. Nisha tried to fight against the drug to no avail. 

“Doing what, exactly?” 

Nisha saw Scarlett smile through a fog. A little voice in the back of her mind told her that Scarlett was quite pretty when she smiled. Nisha attempted to squash the thought posthaste. Her nose wrinkled with her sluggish thoughts.

“Bein’ so nice.”

“Honestly, it’s like you don’t know me at all. Now just lay back and rest. I won’t do anything to you.”

Nisha felt herself sluggishly lift her shoulders. Her breathing slowed, eyelids losing their battle to gravity. The chair tilted back a little and before long she was out cold. Doctor Ed’s infamous double dose. It killed the pain, knocked one flat on their ass, and brought them up feeling like they could take down an army single-handedly. Should they wake up. 

Nisha groaned softly. For a moment she felt like something was crushing her chest. The moment passed. Her senses slowly started creeping back to her. 

“Ah, shit, what hit me?”

“One of Ed’s Special hypos. Part Atlas-grade painkiller, part Anshin booster. Nasty little piece of work. Huh, I’m not used to seeing people take one and survive.”

Nisha’s jaw dropped, her eyes widening. The instant she spotted the hint of a smile on Scarlett’s face, she frowned. Her eyes narrowed dangerously for a beat. 

“Oh, would you look at that, it actually matches your real eye.”

Scarlett rose from her makeshift seat, an old oil barrel. She kicked out of the way with her prosthetic leg. Nisha sat up, pausing in an attempt to get her head to stop spinning. She inhaled, held her breath for a moment and then released her breath. The room stopped moving on her. 

“So, how about we get a move on? I don’t want to leave the ship with the boys too long. I don’t want another mutiny on my hands.”

Nisha tried standing, only to stumble back into the chair. Her shoulders slumped. She took another deep breath and released it. 

“That is some good stuff.”

“Don’t get used to it; he’ll only give it to you once. Mostly because I think he keeps using it himself.”

Scarlett crossed to her, extending her hooked arm. Nisha tried batting the helping hand away only to end up toppling right into Scarlett’s outstretched arms for the second time that day. She didn’t have to see her companion’s face to know that she was grinning. Fingers tapped along her spine as Nisha tried to steady herself. She felt her jaw tighten. She forced herself to breathe. A moment’s pause and she was ready to attempt walking again. Nisha pushed away from Scarlett, tottering unsteadily toward the door, her companion following closely behind, ready to catch her should she fall. Every few steps, Nisha shot a glare over her shoulder. 

\--

Nisha stepped back for a moment to examine herself in the cracked mirror adorning the boutique’s wall. Slim-fit khaki breeches encased her legs, her calves covered by thick-soled black leather boots. She tugged at the cuff of her billowing purple shirt, sneering at the memory of a pirate Echofilm she had watched as a kid. Daring swashbucklers doing surprisingly noble deeds and none of the wanton violence she craved. Shaking the thought, she went back to buttoning up her brown leather vest. It was a far cry from her trench coat, but definitely more serviceable in the heat of the desert. 

Scarlett tossed her a bandana; she caught it in midair, her shoulder protesting at the jerky movement. She tied the cloth over her head, tucking back shaggy bangs. For a moment, she let her fingers stray to the new piercings in her ear. Scarlett had insisted. She prepared to turn away from the mirror when she caught her gaze drawn back to the webbing of scar over her right eye. Her EchoEye was a near perfect match in color to her natural eye. The scar tissue from the bullet wound stretched to just below her cheekbone to the bridge of her nose. There was still a hint of cordite around the edges of the wound. She had seen worse. She was so caught up in studying her scars that she didn’t notice Scarlett approaching her. Scarlett wrapped a crimson cloth around her neck. Nisha immediately slipped her fingers under the cloth, ready to rip it away from her windpipe. Sure, she was into choking, but like hell was she willing to go down without a fight. Scarlett smacked the back of her hand. She tied off the cloth, making a collar of sorts from the scrap of cloth. 

“What’s this?”

“To show that you’re mine.” Scarlett’s voice grew soft; there was a hint of a purr to it that sent a chill down Nisha’s spine. 

“Uh, what?”

“To show you’re part of the crew; you’ve got to wear the colors, Nish. That and I couldn’t exactly find a good replacement for your old collar.”

Nisha bit her lower lip when she caught sight of her dilated pupils. Even her cybernetic eye betrayed her. Her gaze traveled over to Scarlett, who smirked knowingly. Nisha blew out a breath through her nose.

“Shall we?”

Nisha assented with a soft grunt. She made a mental note to herself that should Scarlett get handsy she’d start with her pinky. Breaking each delicate bone one by one. That was a thought she could relish in. Slow torture seemed like the way to go. And she would enjoy every second of it should things come to that point. Scarlett seemed to know she was thinking something wicked and kept her distance, especially after the comment on the makeshift collar. 

Nisha was all too glad when the day came to an end. She collapsed heavily into the hammock that had been strung in a corner of Scarlett’s quarters. The heavy canvas creaked at first, but it didn’t give. She found that the hammock had been placed at a point where she could stick her foot right on top of Scarlett’s desk. However, it also meant the bathroom was clear on the other side of the cabin, closer to the door. Scarlett shuffled the pillows on her bed around. Nisha occasionally felt a lingering gaze on her. She blew it off. Eventually her need for sleep won out even if it meant she slept with her hand wrapped around the hilt of a small knife she pocketed in Oasis.


	3. Fighting the Tide

Nisha was quick to realize that Wurmwater wasn’t all that different from the end of Pandora she knew. The scenery was much the same, save for the latter’s much more nautical flare. The calcified remains of barnacles clung to surfaces that hadn’t seen water in centuries. Wood was aged to the point where it would collapse into dust at a strong enough impact. The usual patina of rust was tinted with the greenish hint of old copper; old stucco once painted in vibrant, beachy colors were now sunbleached and laden with cracks. Yeah, it was a lot like home. 

Bullets and sand flew up behind her in the heat of a skirmish. Her borrowed pistol was holstered, her hands wrapped firmly around the Jakob’s shotgun she picked up off of a fallen pirate. She shouldered the stock, inhaling the sulphuric scent of gunpowder. Tingles of excitement coursed down her spine. She felt herself grin for the first time in weeks.

There was a path leading to the upper reaches of the camp off to the left. Nisha veered off to the left, dodging between the few pirates blocking her path, unloading a single round into each of them. She never slowed as she shouldered her gun to clamber up a rusted metal ladder. Almost the instant her boots hit the weathered wood walkway, a corsair rushed her, his dual scimitars scissoring over her head. She ducked beneath the blades, lifting her shotty to drive a round through his chest. Blood spattered across her cheekbones and the front of her. The tinny smell of blood mixed with gunpowder made her heart pound. The manic grin was settled firmly in place even as uneven footfalls caught up to her. 

“Nisha, you bloody idiot, duck!”

Nisha dropped to her knees just before a thunderous crack split the air. As much as she wanted to yell at Scarlett, she couldn’t keep herself from laughing as the anchorman’s head flew away from his body. His anchor fell to the walkway mere inches from where Nisha kneeled. The ancient boards didn’t so much as splinter as crumbled. Nisha managed to scurry backwards on her ass to get away from the missing boards. She picked herself up without a word. A few quick steps back and she was rushing for the gap in the walkway, her EchoEye feeding her calculations on her velocity and wind resistance. Not that she gave a damn. She left the science to the pencil pushers. Her feet thumped on the wood, scattering dust motes. The boards creaked ominously but held under her weight. Nisha’s lips twisted into a grin as she fired on the next swarm of pirates. Scarlett was left in her dust.

“I haven’t felt this good since mom died!”

Nisha could hear Scarlett muttering curses as she scrambled to catch up to her. Scarlett was obviously taking her time and taking care not to destroy the bridge as they crossed. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Nisha had a thought reminding her that it wasn’t the best idea to leave behind the person that found the camp and knew about what lay in wait. She crushed down that thought, instead deciding to revel in the bloodshed. At least until the little voice in the back of her mind reminded her that their target’s name was Afthole. And she thought Poopdeck had a stupid name.

Scarlett huffed. “Really, do you want to take on this baddie by yourself? You nearly got clobbered back there.” 

Nisha slowed her sprint, letting herself take just a moment to catch her breath. She turned on the ball of her foot to face Scarlett, keeping her trigger finger ready should she need to shoot someone. Scarlett caught up to her. She gave her companion a brief once over before taking the lead. She hefted her heavy pistol as though to make a point. Nisha flipped the bird at her back. 

“Awfully quiet up here.”

Scarlett slowed to a halt. She half-turned to Nisha, her lips pursed. She shook her head. “Have you seen your body count? That was most of his crew. Save for whatever halfwits might have slept through the skirmish.” 

Nisha turned her attention back to the point where the wooden walkway ended. The ledge of rock was a good hundred feet wide by a mere thirty deep. A small circular hut waited for them. Unlike the rest of the camp, this building was well cared for, reinforced and nowhere near as rusty. Poorly spelled and badly painted signs littered the ledge. A badly graffitied skull marked the door to the hut, which banged open as if on cue. A mountain of a man emerged from the hut, his shoulders barely squeezing through the double doors. Nisha and Scarlett exchanged glances before nodding to each other. Nisha felt a warm palm on her back for a moment and the thrust of a strong arm as Scarlett shoved her onto the rock ledge. 

“You said you wanted to take him on. Have at it, then!”

“What?! You bitch!” Nisha raised her hands, feeling her jaw tighten as she watched Scarlett retreat a short distance away.

The pirate gave her a half-assed little wave, mouthing the words ‘have fun’. Nisha turned her sight back onto Afthole, who raised his massive harpoon and bellowed in what she assumed was a challenge. He hefted a mine the size of a small skag in his free hand, palming the bomb as though it weighed as much a grenade. 

“Oh shit.” 

Nisha didn’t even think, she just leapt out of the way, rolling on her shoulder to get away from the explosion. The heat of the blast singed her hair and skin; she could smell burning. She rolled up, rising to her feet and aimed her shotgun. She squeezed the trigger firing off a pair of rounds, trying to aim for his mine cache. A round grazed the metal of the cache with a ping. It ricocheted and burrowed itself into the rock near their feet. Nisha took half a step back, her breath escaping her when a harpoon nearly speared her right ear. Afthole moved quickly for a big man. 

Nisha skirted back, her boots nearly sliding off the edge of the cliff face. Afthole lunged for her, harpoon thrust forward, aiming for her midriff. Nisha ducked at last second, sliding beneath the harpoon’s shaft. She fired a round into his forearm. The shot wasn’t clear and barely grazed his skin. She scrabbled on the stone for a grip. His next blow smacked her in the side of the head with the blunt edge of his spear. Nisha hit the ground, her vision blurring. She could taste blood. Something told her to move. She rolled, feeling a wave of nausea hit her as she moved. She felt the heat more than she heard the explosion of another dropped mine. 

Nisha rose on shaky feet, lifting her shotgun. Focusing took almost all the effort she could muster. The double image cleared just long enough for her to aim at the junction of Afthole’s harpoon arm. The harpoon Afthole was digistructing fell to the ground with a clatter. An inhuman roar left the massive man as he started charging for Nisha. Afthole moved like a  
juggernaut, his bulk clearly built for sheer, raw power and not sprinting. Nisha stood in place, her feet shoulder width apart. She aimed for his head, pulling the trigger to find her gun dry. She tossed the shotgun aside. Pulse pounding in her ears, she searched for a weapon. Her eyes landed on his old harpoon. She leapt out of the way of his charge, narrowly missing being clipped by his bulk. He reached the end of the ledge, turned and started for her again. Nisha hardly breathed as she hefted the spear.

She kept her back to him until the last minute, pivoting on the ball of her foot as she drove the harpoon home, up beneath his breastbone and out through his back using his own momentum. Sure, it wasn’t her style, but it got the job done. Afthole twitched, his thick fingers grasping the shaft of the harpoon. Nisha smirked to herself. She turned to where Scarlett was leaning against a shack and grinned. For a moment she swore she saw Scarlett shake her head and make a gesture. Nisha’s brow furrowed, her mouth dropping open. Her windpipe felt like it was going to cave in. Glancing down, she found a thick hand wrapped around her throat. She couldn’t see Afthole’s face, but she could see the blood pooling at his feet. Her breaths came in shallow gasps. She felt her feet leave the ground. Blackness started creeping into her vision once again. 

Nisha fumbled for her digistruct. Her hand found the controls after a second of panicked searching. The darkness spread over her eyes, breathing was getting harder. Her hands closed around the thick leather of her whip. One last ditch effort, one last shot. She wasn’t quite sure how she managed to loop the whip around Afthole’s bullneck, but she managed. Her grip on the whip was weak. She tugged as hard as she could, closing the loop around his neck. She kicked out, hoping for a good target. Her boot found what she was aiming for and she felt Afthole’s grip on her loosen. He stumbled forward, she used his weight against him, drinking in what little air his grip faltering gave her. One deep breath and a sharp pull later, she heard the choking. His grip on her broke completely. Every time she inhaled she drew the whip tighter around his throat. She kept pulling it tighter even after he had choked his last. 

“Shoulda bought me dinner first, asshole.”

From behind her came the awkward sound of someone clapping using a metal hook in place of a hand. Nisha spun around, whip at the ready. Her jaw tensed, her fingers twitched.

“A little on the edge, are we?”

“You shoved me at him and bolted; do you really think I’m gonna let you betray me that easily?”

Scarlett’s blindly white teeth flashed in a grin. 

“You seemed eager to draw blood, so I let you. And look at that, you lived! Dodging could use a bit of work, but that ending was brilliant.”

Scarlett took a few steps forward, her palms lifted placatingly. Nisha’s fingers twitched along the handle of her whip. She could feel her tendons straining as she fought her urge to exact revenge on Scarlett. Her palm grew slick against the leather. Her gaze flicked over to her shotgun. Scarlett closed the gap between them, her warm, gloved hand brushing against Nisha’s cheek. Nisha flinched, jerking away from the contact. 

“That is quite the nasty mark. Take this, as,” she paused, surveying the bruises on Nisha’s neck. “An act of goodwill.”

Scarlett dug in her pack for a moment. Nisha’s eyes never left her companion. Her nerves tingled and her palm itched. Scarlett withdrew a single healing hypo. She extended her arm slowly, eyes never leaving Nisha’s face. Nisha snatched up the hypo after a moment of awkward staring. Scarlett shook her head, making her way to Aft Hole’s mock hut. Nisha shifted the hypo to her mouth, holding it carefully by the body of the syringe as she rolled up her whip. Whip stowed away, she ripped off the protective cap and spat it on the ground. She slammed the needle deep into her thigh, depressing the plunger. She let out a slow breath. Tingling began somewhere near her toes and rushed through her body at light speed. Her heart hammered against her rib cage. Her toes curled a little in her boots as the warmth spread through her. 

Nisha exhaled, feeling her windpipe expand to normal once more. She ached a little, but the worst of the damage had been fixed. 

“Are you coming or are you going to stand out there and enjoy your little rush?”

Nisha’s jaw tensed. The urge to murder Scarlett came right back. At least until she heard a startled little shriek and the crack of a pistol being fired at close range. Nisha darted into the hut, a scavenged harpoon in hand only to find Scarlett standing over the body of a cabin boy, brains leaking out onto the hard concrete floor. 

“Bloody bastard tried to get me.”

“And you complain about my mouth, Red.”

Scarlett opened her mouth and very slowly shut it, her eyebrow rising. A wry grin spread across her face. Nisha immediately regretted her quip. She shook her head, refusing to rise to the bait. 

“Oh, come on now; you started it. Please do finish it.”

“Fuck off.”

“Really, you suck the fun out of things.” 

Scarlett rolled her eyes as she crossed the room, taking care to step over the body of the cabin boy. She pointed to a metal gun chest bedecked with a gold colored skull. 

“Weapons should be over there. Take your pick. I prefer the real booty. Money, seraph crystals, treasure maps, eridium. Unless there are purples in there. Those I like.”

Nisha flapped a hand dismissively as she made her way to the chest. She kicked the cabin boy’s body, watching the blood spill from his wound. The blood was only just starting to coagulate around the bullet wound. Nisha crouched in front of the chest, examining the lock. She jabbed the skull in the eye socket, shuffling back as the mechanism rotated counter clockwise. The top of the case slid open revealing three guns: a shotgun, a pistol, and an SMG. They all bore the logo of the defunct S & S corporation. Scarlett looked up from a stash of gold coins she was studying and whistled. 

“While they’re not as valuable as Atlas, those would fetch a nice price on the black market if they aren’t up to snuff.”

Nisha hefted the pistol, testing its weight and its grip. It was no Law, but it would do. 

“I’ll hold on to them. Never know when they could come in handy. Find anything good over there?”

Scarlett’s face was lit with a soft pink glow. The glow emanated from a small, pink crystal that fit nicely in her palm. Her grin was positively manic in the sickly pink light. 

“This, my friend, is a seraph crystal. They’re rarer than rare. Usually you have to kill some kind of major badass to find just one, but our chum here had himself a stash. Looks as though I won’t have to kill you any time soon, Nish. You’re my good luck charm.”

Scarlett caught her eye, giving her a drawn out wink. Nisha broke eye contact first, clearing her throat. Warmth was creeping up to her cheeks. She blamed the heat of the desert and all the fighting she had done. Definitely not because of Scarlett giving her the eye.


	4. Deeper than a Current

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which things get a little strange.

Sun reflected on the rust colored sand. Nisha squinted, shading her eyes with her hand. Hot, dry wind whipped her inky hair into her face. Occasionally, she’d glare over her shoulder at Scarlett. Scarlett had her convinced for well over a week that her EchoEye required her to say “enhance” whenever she scanned for threats or data. As it turned out, Scarlett lied. 

“Are we getting close, Nish?”

A tiny red dot appeared on her EchoEye’s holomap. A little focusing sharpened the image, redefining the landmarks, revealing a flat bottomed skiff. Her eye’s feed told her they were going a good clip, but had not activated their boosters.

“I see the skiff now. Turn right at that big ass rock.”

“Starboard. The term is starboard.”

“Do you want their stuff or not?”

Scarlett banked the skiff into a hard turn. Nisha had to redouble her grip on the harpoon gun to keep herself from toppling overboard. She uttered a string of curses until the skiff started to draw level with their target. The crew of the skiff was a meager skeleton crew. Two men guarding a precious cargo shipment. Too easy. 

Nisha leveled her harpoon gun, lining it up with the skiff’s rear thruster. The aft crashed into the sand, nearly dumping the guard onto the sands. Nisha tracked his movements, keeping her harpoon trained on him as he tried to jump into the gunner’s seat. It pierced his shoulder, knocking him off balance. He toppled overboard, head first. Nisha cackled at the sight of him blowing up in the face of the sandworms that tried to devour him. 

The remaining crewman seized control of the machine turret’s controls, keeping one hand on the keel in a last ditch effort to defend his cargo. The crippled vessel lurched in a weak turn. It wasn’t even worth using the harpoon. Nisha drew her shotgun from a holster welded into the side of her gunner seat. 

“Are you done playing?”

Nisha ignored her EchoEye’s readout. She didn’t need tech to line up her shot. Leave that to Timothy or other techies. She squeezed off a round, the shot taking off the bandit’s head with a cloud of blood. A clean kill. Well, as clean as a shotgun could manage. Nowhere near as exciting as she hoped. Nisha’s heart wasn’t hammering as much as she thought it would. The buzzing in her blood had almost been silenced. 

The crippled vessel drug bottom, its momentum slowing until at last it ground to a stop. Nisha slid her shotgun back into the makeshift holster as Scarlett drew them level with the skiff. She reached into the depths of her boot, extracting a wickedly curved blade. She tucked her blade under her belt to keep it in place, steeling herself for the ship jump. 

One slow breath, a release. She leapt out of her gunner seat, her jump landing her just outside of the cargo stow. The skiff rocked gently under her boots. It settled back into the sand. Behind her, Scarlett set up the gangplank. The leap wasn’t entirely necessary, but it looked badass. 

Nisha surveyed the tiny vessel. There wasn’t much to see. She cautiously examined the three barrels stacked in the cargo hold. Huge wooden barrels, that if they were standing would come up to her navel. Triple Xs were branded into the dark wood. Only one person on Pandora was cheeky enough to claim that particular brand. That just made the looting more sweet for Nisha. Anything to piss off the slutty clown. 

She knelt down next to the barrels, examining the ropes that held them in place. Three ropes, each the thickness of her wrist. She drew her knife and got to work, Out of the corner of her eye, Nisha spotted a disapproving look creeping across Scarlett’s face. 

“You know, I expected you to appreciate a good rope.”

Nisha tossed aside the scraps, taking just a moment to casually flip the bird at Scarlett. Using her shoulder, she pushed the first barrel down onto the gangplank. Her boots dug into the weathered wood of the plank. She momentarily feared it would collapse, but the plank held. Scarlett took the other side of the barrel, pulling it aboard. Twenty minutes of hard work later, Scarlett’s skiff barely cleared the sand. The bandit skiff rose to nearly a foot higher than the burdened vehicle. One last sweep of the bandit vessel produced barely enough cash for a med hypo and a few chunks of unprocessed eridium. Nisha stashed the rid rock, figuring at least there would be a buyer on the black market for the stuff. 

She stepped gingerly onto Scarlett’s skiff, taking up the gangplank after her. She inched her way around the barrels, keeping as wide a berth as she could manage. Scarlett waited to toggle the throttle until she was seated. Their ride hardly made a sound as it skimmed over the crimson sands. 

“Well, you’ve certainly bought your way in with my crew.”

Nisha leaned back in the gunner’s seat, listening to the vinyl creak behind her. She lifted her shoulders in a half-assed shrug. 

“D’ya think they’ll finally shut up?”

Scarlett’s laughter rung out clear as a bell even as Nisha launched an explosive harpoon at the remnants of an old ship. A cloud of dust and fire followed in their wake. Scarlett hit the booster, keeping her eye on their cargo. 

“Once you’ve offloaded our goods, come to, er, our quarters. I have a little something for you.”

Nisha spun the seat controls, attempting to catch her companion’s eye. Scarlett’s face was unreadable. Nisha rotated her seat back. She could just make out the faint outline of the Bacchanal’s cove amidst the rock faces. It almost felt like home. Almost. It sure as hell wasn’t Lynchwood, but it was close enough. 

Nisha mulled over her thoughts as their overburdened skiff lurched up the ramp toward the cargo hold. While she was certain it took some skill to manage such a maneuver, she didn’t pay attention. She hardly noticed Scarlett disembarking and disappearing into the bowels of the Bacchanal. Too many of Scarlett’s men had surrounded her, clapping her on the shoulder and calling her their favorite crewman. It shook her from her reverie, if only for a moment. 

The first barrel was cracked open almost the instant it was offloaded onto the ship. Booze flowed. A full decanter was thrust into her hands as well as an overflowing mug. Nisha weaved through the crew, spilling rum as she went. She turned back, surveying the men for a moment.

“If I find out you destroyed something, I will end you.”

She turned back to the lift, idly tasting the rum she had pilfered. Spicy, heavy, with a good afterburn. She set her destination, leaning back against the lift’s controls as it carried her to the foredeck. Her trek to her quarters had become automatic. Climbing the ladder took some skill, but she managed it without spilling too much of the precious booze. At least the crew would be kept at bay by that obstacle. If she could barely manage it sober with full hands, she doubted they could do it drunk. 

The air was still hot and dry, but night was rapidly setting in over Wurmwater. Nisha drained her mug, setting it on the table in front of her shared quarters. Her gaze swept over the foredeck, taking in the small cargo stores, the massive side thrusters, and the crow’s nest far above her head. She still had no idea what the hell an aft of poopdeck was, but whatever. Leave that to the nautical types. 

Her blood ran cold when she turned to the door of her shared cabin. Her heart thudded dully in her chest. She slid her free hand down to her holster, slipping up the safety snap in case she needed to draw the S and N pistol. She tucked the decanter into her belt, steeling herself. Nisha let out a slow breath. She twisted the knob and threw open the door, her hand straying back to her pistol’s grip. She was expecting a trap. A gunshot, an ambush; but then again, she didn’t trust Scarlett as far as she could throw her, which wasn’t very far if she was honest with herself. She definitely wasn’t expecting to see Scarlett’s back. 

Her bare back. Nisha could trace the delicate lines of lean muscle in her shoulders. She had a clear view of Scarlett’s crossbones tattoo on her neck. 

Something glittered in the dim light. Nisha tore her eyes away from Scarlett’s bare skin, following the metallic gleam. Scarlett’s usual hook had been replaced with a cybernetic arm. Her metal fingers were long and tapered, a perfect match to her natural hand. Scarlett turned to her, a beatific smile taking over her face. 

“See something you fancy?”

Nisha sputtered as Scarlett rose, crossing to her. Her EchoEye was giving her a bioscan-- and she really did not enjoy the data she was seeing. Nisha took a few steps back. Her back brushed a wall, her hand started straying for the doorknob. She didn’t remember shutting the door behind her. 

Scarlett’s warm lips pressed to hers, her lip ring was icy on Nisha’s overheated skin. Cold fingers trailed over her sides. As prepared as she was to fight, she was taken back when she felt her fingers tangle into Scarlett’s hair. She shrugged out of her vest. A button popped off of her shirt in Scarlett’s haste. Hot lips pressed against old scars on her neck. Nisha’s breath caught in her throat. Cold, metal fingers brushed her bare skin. 

Nisha flailed against her cloth trappings. Her hammock lurched ominously before depositing her on the floor. Her skull pounded. Moving hurt. Her hand fell on a bottle. She gripped it, lifting it to her face. Bleary eyes told her it was a mostly empty decanter. She set the bottle down, letting her head hit the floor. It did nothing to help her headache.

“Are you alright?” Scarlett slurred. Apparently she was hungover too. 

“Fell outta my hammock.” Her own voice was thick-- and not just from sleep and the hangover. 

“My bed’s open if you need it.”

Scarlett was snoring again almost immediately. Nisha remained on the floor. She swore under her breath, shoving the decanter as far away as she could manage. It rolled back to her and smacked her in the ribs. She groaned softly. There was no point in going back to sleep.


	5. Lines in the Sand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Much delayed due to personal issues. However, I would like to think I am back on track.

The Bacchanal was deathly still at that hour. Nisha carefully stepped over a dozing crewman, his empty mug still clutched in his hand. Apparently the crew had over indulged. Not that she could judge considering the dull aching throb in the back of her own head. The further she ventured into the ship, the more she had to tiptoe around dozing men. 

After a good while of creeping around the ship, she finally made her way to the lower deck. The sun was only just starting to rise on the horizon. The Catch-A-Ride station was devoid of life, its single guard had his head leaned against the cool steel wall; he would awake before long with one hell of a nasty burn. Nisha allowed herself a soft chuckle at his expense as she booted up the vehicle digistruct. A few quick decisions brought her an explosive harpoon skiff in the shade labelled dimensional. It was a tad flashy, but it wasn’t as though she was on a truly covert mission. 

Nisha circled around her skiff, avoiding the ramp. She looked it over, her lips pursing. She had watched Scarlett pilot one of them a few times, surely it couldn’t be all that hard. She took her seat on the tiny pilot’s seat; it was scarcely bigger than a bicycle seat. The steering wheel and gauges were simple enough. Her foot probed the floor until she found two pedals. She flipped up a lever, only to feel herself starting to sink. She immediately slammed the lever back in place before the skiff could hit the deck. The jets hissed as she resituated herself. She pressed the first pedal and the skiff eased forward. She tried the second; it wouldn’t budge. Her best guess was that was the boost. 

“Just like the first time, huh?” She muttered to herself as she eased her way down the ramp. 

The skiff bobbed as it hit the ground. Nisha released a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. Within a few minutes she surmised that her vehicle had no brakes and she was perfectly fine with that. She engaged the throttle and stomped on the boost. A fresh rush of adrenaline flooded her as the little skiff picked up speed. She could feel the tingling in her blood. Nowhere near as good as the rush that accompanied a good kill, but it was close enough. 

Around the time Nisha skirted around Oasis, she realized she was lost. Eventually she eased her skiff into an outcropping and dismounted. She stared at the glowing glyphs, bringing up her Echo’s map. Between the two maps and a few minutes of frustrated cursing, she found her heading. It wasn’t as bad as the time she got turned around in Pity’s Fall, but it was close enough.   
Washburne Refinery. Scuttlebutt amongst the crew had it that there was a major league badass living deep within the ore processing plant. He was beyond a badass, nigh invincible. Needless to say Nisha wanted the kill. 

_“Really, it’d be quite stupid of you to go after him. He’s not called ‘invincible’ for his health. Why go and get yourself killed when a Vault Hunter might do it and get killed for you?”_

Nisha chewed her lower lip. The smarter, more tactical side of her told her that Scarlett’s advice was sound, but the other part of her wanted to feel the badass’ head crunch under her boot. The drive to kill and face a new challenge won out over her rational side, as it usually did. 

Weathered steel beams stood out against the sand and stone. Far above her head, scaffolding supported a piece of mining tech she couldn’t identify. If she squinted, she could just make out a high security fence on a ledge. The Refinery had been built on the upper lip of a canyon, high out of the reach of bandits. Well, at least out of the reach of bandits not smart enough to pull levers. Nisha hardly noticed the squad of pirates swarming around her. The kills were far too clean for her tastes. She barely broke a sweat as she crossed their little makeshift camp. Five bullets, five exploded heads spattering over the cobbled together buildings. 

Nisha holstered her gun as she strode up to the mechanical lift. She gave the lever a good, swift kick. The weathered mechanisms groaned as they lurched into life. The lift crept up its cables, inching its way over the gully. She shifted her feet, occasionally peering over the edge. She envisioned dropping the head of a fallen pirate over the edge and watching it smash like a firemelon. She started picturing throwing a puppy over the edge but the thought was cut short when she spotted a loaderbot awaiting her at the top of the precipice. 

A stream of curses left her lips as she ducked behind the chainlink fence. The bot turned away from her, scratching the top of its chassis. Nisha arched an eyebrow, her nose wrinkling in confusion. She drew her pistol, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. The loaderbot was completely oblivious to her presence. It went down with a single well placed shot to the optic. 

“Who’s superior now?”

She gave the robot a kick for good measure. Its arm twitched spasmodically, almost like a human would. Nisha holstered her pistol, rolling her neck. The refinery was going to be a cakewalk, she just knew it. 

The heavy steel doors slammed shut behind her. It took her a few minutes to adjust to the darkness. Her Echoeye ran a read out; ex-Hyperion eridium processing plant. Abandoned after the fall of Jack, but there were some loyal robots shambling about. Well, at least there had been. Bullet riddled chassis littered the steel grate floor. Splotches of acid occasionally dripped down on the mutilated robots. She could still smell gunpowder on the air. Someone had passed through-- and very recently. Nisha’s blood ran cold. She gripped her pistol tightly, her trigger finger twitching as she made her way through the nearly endless corridors. 

Nisha took the corners at a good clip, ducking into the shadows at the slightest sounds. She was certain that Athena would have been laughing her ass off at her. She passed by a loaderbot that looked like it had been cleaved in half by claws. Even skags had a hell of a time tearing through the bots’ chassis. Her throat grew dry as she ventured further and further into the refinery. 

Nisha came to a stop at a room that forked in three directions. One path went deeper into the facility. The other led to a heavy barricade. There was a switch on the wall that glowed a dull crimson when she tried to hit the command. The steel grate offered only the slightest of views of what lay beyond the barrier. She could just make out the outlines of what resembled an arena. She ducked away from the wall when a bullet pinged off the corrugated steel barrier. She took a few steps back, turning her attention to the two vending machines in the corner. Sucking in a breath, she ducked behind the machine advertising Zed’s medicine and inched toward the diamond steel meshing. 

A submachine gun barked one last deafening blast. The chatter of the gun started up again only to cut off quickly. 

“Gaige, what the hell? He’s dead.” The voice was low, but definitely feminine. 

“Sorry, Mai, you can’t stop the anarchy!” The second speaker had a much higher voice, one that Nisha found highly grating.

She screwed her nose up as she tried to recall the last time she heard a name that sounded close to Mai. The chill returned to her blood when the name came to her. Maya the siren. She swallowed, but found no spit to make the process easier. 

“Yeah, well, I’d appreciate it if your shots didn’t keep hitting my shield.”

“What’s the point of anarchy if it’s controlled?”

Maya groaned. “Just stop with the friendly fire.”

“You coulda been with Sal. He would be eating this guy right now. And I don’t mean that in the hot way.”

There was a gurgling noise that turned into a soft retch. Nisha pressed closer to the wall. She tugged at the collar of her shirt; she had never considered that the back of a vending machine would be so hot. From inside the pit there was the clatter of guns being dropped onto the hard packed ground. 

“Hey, Mai, which gun should I keep? This one or the one I got from that Sheriff chick?”

“I say screw it, unless you want a souvenir.”

“Eh, I like the one I got from Scarlett better.”

“You mean the one you got from me who picked it up after Scarlett dropped it.”

“I traded for it.”

Nisha tuned out the last of their squabbling. Her initial horror over the presence of vault hunters boiled over into pure rage at the fact that they had killed her intended victim and then had the gall to badmouth her beloved Law. She ground her teeth. The twitching in her trigger finger intensified as she envisioned killing the two vault hunters. Her heart rate doubled. She had a hard time forcing her hand away from her holster. 

“Hey, Gaige, I’m going to head out. The guys said something about going hunting with Hammerlock. Might as well use it to hone my powers, right?”

“Okay. I’ll catch up later.”

“Uh, are you okay? You’re not dropping everything to go see Hammerlock. Should I be worried?”

“Nah, it’s… y’know. I made a deal with Scarlett and now we’re meeting up to trade.”

For a moment there was silence. Nisha ventured a little further away from cover, straining to hear what the vault hunters had to say. She heard the siren sigh. 

“Yeah, that. Look, just don’t tell her you stole her gun.”

Nisha dove back into the shadows at the first sound of footsteps up the metal ramp. She held her breath as Maya surveyed the offerings of Marcus’ Ammo Dump. She prayed to the forces that be that her breathing and heartbeat wouldn’t be audible over the thrum of the machine. Eventually the footsteps faded away, lost in the echo of the wide corridors. That left just one vault hunter. She debated murdering the kid, then calling out Scarlett for dealing with vault hunters or sticking around and using it as blackmail should Scarlett really aggravate her. Her choice was made for her when she heard the uneven thu-thump of Scarlett’s prosthetic leg. 

Nisha pressed herself flush against the wall, heart fluttering wildly. Her jaw ached from tension. Scarlett paused just in front of the vending machine she was hiding behind. She wasn’t entirely sure if her eyes were playing tricks on her or not, but she was convinced that Scarlett had winked at her. Damn, that woman was good. Scarlett strode into the makeshift arena, leaving Nisha behind in the hiding spot.

“Ahoy there, mechromancer!”

Nisha shifted in her cramped quarters until metal brushed her cheek. She focused her EchoEye, zooming in until Gaige and Scarlett were fairly clear. 

“H-hey, Scarlett!”

“Looks like you made short work of Hyperius.” 

Scarlett crossed until she was slightly more than arm’s length away from the vault hunter. Gaige was just barely in view from around Scarlett’s shoulder. 

“Eh, it was ehn-bee-dee. You got the parts?”

“Do you have my wares?”

“Duh, and let me tell you, I’m freakin’ jealous. I might have to rework my arm after making this bad boy. Hey, DT, come out, I need access to your storage banks, babe.”

The flash of blue digistruct light burned Nisha’s eyes. She ducked back in the shadows, blinking to try to rid herself of the after image. She fought back her urge to curse for fear of being heard. Deep in the arena, she heard Scarlett chuckle. Something in her voice gave Nisha the idea that she was extremely pleased and that wasn’t a good thing. 

“Colour me impressed, Gaige. It’s very well crafted. Pardon me for saying that it will come… in handy.”

Nisha and Gaige groaned in unison. Nisha shifted in her hidden position, desperately stretching out her leg. Pins and needles ran up her calf. Her other leg cramped. She uttered a string of silent curses. 

“You got the parts?”

“But of course. I may be a backstabber, but I’m a fairly honest woman.”

There was silence for a beat. Nisha half-expected to hear gunshots and cries of pain. Nothing. Once more she pressed herself to the metal gridding. Scarlett had passed over an ammo box and now the mechromancer was perusing its contents. A definitive click punctuated the silence.

“Sweet, thanks. I’m not sure how you did it, but you did it.”

“I have my ways. Pirate and all that.”

Nisha watched the pair square off, both women studying each other. She was sorely disappointed when neither drew their gun. Gaige started toward the arena’s exit, still cautiously looking over her shoulder.

“That pistol on the ground with the bayonet wouldn’t happen to be Law, would it?”

The crunching of feet on gravel stopped. Gaige turned back toward Scarlett again.

“Yeah. Why, you want it?”

“It belonged to a… dear friend. I also happen to be in the market for a new pistol seeing as mine went missing.” There was a hint of an accusing tone to Scarlett’s voice, but it wasn’t particularly sharp. 

“Go ahead. I’ve…. Got a crapton of other guns. Let’s blow this popsicle stand, DT.”

The robot chirped, disappearing in another flash of blue light. This time Nisha was smart enough to turn her head to avoid the glare. Gaige walked right past her hiding spot, her grip tight on the ammo box. She soon vanished down the dark metal corridor. Not long after, the sounds of Scarlett’s uneven footfalls approached her.   
“You can come out now, unless you happen to like being back there. I won’t judge. Though, you never did strike me as being the voyeuristic type, Nisha.”

“You’re working with Vault Hunters again.” Nisha spat the words vault hunters as she weaseled her way out from behind the vending machines.

“Vault Hunter, singular. She happens to have a talent I need and I prefer avoiding… Ed, was it? Anyway, I’ve got your gun back for you.”

Nisha brushed cobwebs out of her hair. She glowered darkly at Scarlett as she hastily snatched Law out of her companion’s hand. 

“Those are the bitches that nearly killed me.”

“I’m aware of that. I had to hide from the siren myself. Which is a shame.”

Scarlett was already half way down the corridor. She pivoted on her prosthetic leg, beckoning for Nisha to follow her. Nisha folded her arms over her chest, keeping Law free. She shook her head and remained in place.

“You’re not pissed at me?”

“For what?”

“I stole a skiff, left in the middle of the night, and came here even after you told me not to.”

“Oh, that.” Scarlett pursed her lips. She was silent for a moment. To Nisha’s surprise, she shrugged.

“Rules are made to be broken. Not like there’s a lock on the Catch-a-Ride. Honestly, I’d only be pissed if you had died, but you didn’t so, all is good.”

Nisha uncrossed her arms. She felt her arms tense, her biceps strain in sudden rage. She balled up her fist, trying to hold back the growl of frustration building up in her throat. 

“You are the most infuriating person I have ever met.”

“I get that a lot. Now, are you coming or would you prefer to stay back here sulking?”

Nisha had wanted to be angry. She wanted to lash out, beat the ever-loving life out of Scarlett. But there she was, following the pirate, sulking like a moody teenager. She caught up to Scarlett, still clinging to her precious Law. A warm hand pressed her back, propelling her forward a few clumsy steps.

“In your current foul mood, I’d prefer it if you stayed in front, thank you.”

“Afraid of me stabbing you in the back?”

“It’s more of a general distrust of the way you work, love. I know you don’t always go for clean kills and I’d much rather go out cleanly than being tortured. At the very least, if it comes to me stabbing you in the back, I’d make it quick.”

“So you finally learned. Took you long enough.”

“You know, I’ve been really hoping we could make this partnership of ours work out. You’re good at shooting things, I’m quite clever. But I can tell you still don’t trust me. Which hurts, Nisha.” 

They turned a corner, walking past the loader known as Censorbot. It launched a tirade about filth and foul language as they passed. Nisha still kept her firm grasp on the butt of Law, ready to draw at the drop of a hat. Her jaw locked, teeth grinding. She shook with barely controlled rage. 

“What exactly have you done to earn my trust?”

“Saved your bloody life, for one.” Scarlett’s voice took on a strange edge. For a moment, it almost sounded like she was on the verge of tears. 

“I didn’t ask to be saved.” 

Nisha strode off, letting her anger carry her. She felt as though someone had shoved a live wire through her. She wasn’t the kind of person to grovel, to thank someone for helping her. She sure as hell didn’t accept handouts. She made a silent oath to make Scarlett’s life a living hell for giving her her life back.


	6. Caught in the Undertow

“Have any last words?” 

Scarlett held her pistol level with the crewman’s face. He stood his ground on the plank, refusing to budge. Nisha eased her sleeve back just far enough to expose the snub nose of a derringer. She palmed the tiny gun, aiming it at Scarlett’s head. The crew fumbled for his holster, trying to get a grip on his pistol; if there was a thought going through his head it was simple: ‘kill Nisha, save the captain, I won’t die’. 

It was a shame that all Scarlett saw was him aiming a gun at Nisha. She slid her gun back into her sleeve, smirking to herself. 

Scarlett stalked toward the turncoat, murder in her single good eye. Her new metal hand closed around his throat. She squeezed. 

Nisha blinked. Her nose wrinkled in disgust as she wiped blood from her face. She spared a glance at the pulpy remains of the crewman’s neck. Scarlett was still staring at her new limb, flexing the brass digits. Nisha turned to the assembled crew, lifting an eyebrow in challenge. 

“Let that be a lesson to you assholes.”

She knew she was in the clear. Her derringer settled comfortably along her wrist; it wasn’t half bad of a find in her last camp raid. 

“Shove off, all of you.” Scarlett growled, her ebullience fleeting by the second.

As soon as the last of the scarlet clad crewmen left, Scarlett sighed. She dropped into the chair outside of her quarters in a way that Nisha found just a tad too dramatic. Her gaze briefly shifted up to the now empty crow’s nest. She waited a beat before crossing to stand next to Scarlett. Nisha leaned heavily on the metal wall, making sure to keep plenty of cloth between her and the scorching hot metal. She waited for the inevitable rant. It never came. She dug around in her pocket until she found a worn bandanna. She tossed it at Scarlett, who didn’t seem to notice. 

Scarlett’s eye was still focused on her blood-spattered new limb. She flexed the fingers like a child playing with a new toy. 

“I’ve never seen a human body do that before… That was bloody awesome!” 

She paused, fixing Nisha with a glare. “Don’t give me that look.” 

Nisha lifted an eyebrow. Arms folded over her chest, she waited. 

“I can’t believe he actually drew his bloody gun.”

“Normally you don’t let ‘em get to that point, so, can’t say I’m surprised.”

“You’re no help.”

“You left him a gun, Red. Now if it was me, I would have shot him. Probably not the head. Somewhere that would hurt. Like his balls. Then I would’ve watched him fall off the damn plank, get eaten by sandworms and then called it a day. But that’s me.”

“You’re positively evil. I love it.”

Nisha unfolded her arms. She patted at her pockets until she found a bunched up bandanna. She tossed the cloth to Scarlett, lips pursed.

“You, uh, you got some blood on ya.”

Scarlett took up the cloth, wiping down her new limb. As soon as she was finished, she bundled the cloth up, tossing it behind her. To her delight, it hit Nisha square between the eyes. 

“Right, enough bellyaching. I need to find us someone to shoot-- for their loot. No rest for the wicked and all that.”

Nisha didn’t dare voice her concern over Scarlett’s rapid mood swings. She simply lifted a shoulder in a half-assed shrug as Scarlett disappeared into their quarters. Nisha kicked the wadded up cloth. It hardly moved. 

Guess all those years dealing with Jack makes sucking up all that much easier. Gotta keep the upper hand with her around.

She leaned heavily on a metal guardrail, hawkish eyes scanning the prow. Her gaze seldom wandered past the horizon. She knew that if she looked up she would see the gigantic H looming far above her head. That had been a bitter pill to swallow. 

Forearms crossed on the sun-warmed metal, she let her chin rest on a skinny wrist. 

_Face it, you’re only mad at her because she got a vault hunter to do her work so she didn’t get her hands dirty. You would have done the same if you weren’t trying to kill them. Like she said, why get yourself killed when you can get a vault hunter to do it instead?_

Nisha surveyed the rust colored sands for a long while. She studied remnants of old canyons carved by the dried up sea. Off in the distance, she could just make out the outlines of ancient shipwrecks. If she weren’t keyed up on tension and the thought of a plot, she would have considered the sights soothing. It nearly rivaled the street view of Lynchwood she got from her office. The sun warmed her scalp, almost lulling her into slumber. Almost. 

Behind her the door to her shared quarters opened with a bang. Scarlett’s footfalls were louder than normal, more rushed. Nisha rolled her eyes preemptively. 

“I have some coordinates for your Echo. I have a lead on what looks to be a good find.”

“Why is it that when you say good find I don’t feel half as enthusiastic?”

Scarlett ignored her quip. “Trust me, it will be worth it.”

Nisha entered the coordinates, pursing her lips as her EchoEye loaded its map function. 

“As long as I have something to kill, I don’t give a skrak’s ass.”

“Then you’ll absolutely love this; you have not one, but two people to kill!”

Under her breath, Nisha muttered ‘but wait, there’s more’. She studied the map readout for their next destination. Her eyebrow rose.

“Hayter’s Folly? Isn’t that where Sandman lives?”

“Lived, actually. The vault hunters, kindly did away with him for me. Some new faces have moved into their old stomping grounds. I think we should be the welcoming committee.” 

Nisha hesitated for a moment. She lifted a brow quizzically before letting it drop. 

“And what are the names of the two morons you want me to kill?”

“Dread Knot and Top Knot.”

“I am so sick and tired of these goddamn nautical puns.”  
\--

Nisha drug her boot along the sandy bottom of the Aqua Nexus. Water sloshed up her leg, licking at the cuff of her pants. Her nose scrunched at the wafting aroma of stagnant water. Along the water-carved walls were mushrooms that glowed a luminescent blue. A few feet ahead of her Scarlett gathered crystals left behind by dead crystalisks, humming tunelessly as she worked. 

Nisha pulled up her Echoeye’s data feed on Hayter’s Folly. She skimmed the facts, losing interest after a few lines. A few stones fell from the cave’s ceiling, splashing around her. Somewhere, far above her head Oasis was slowly crumbling under the harsh desert sands. 

“They really didn’t know there was water down here?”

“Other pirate crews over ran the town. I doubt many smart people called Oasis home.”

Nisha grunted in acknowledgment as she leveled her shotgun, blasting off the crystal armor of a crystalisk. The creature glowed until its phosphorus skin exploded, spraying the cavern walls with shards of its armor. Scarlett gathered more crystals, ignoring the smaller shards lodged in her prosthetic leg. 

“You sure we’re not lost?”

“Don’t start that, Nish.”

They rounded a corner. Nisha cocked her head at a poorly graffitied skag on the wall. 

“We passed that a few times already.”

“Well, if you know so much, why don’t you find it?”

Nisha chewed her lower lip. She turned her attention back to the graffiti. It looked like a horrific combination of a rakk hive and a skag. She was sure there was supposed to be a message along with the skag, but she couldn’t read the writing. Blood rushed to her cheeks.

“You’re the captain, you lead.”

“You got lost in your old sheriff’s building, didn’t you?”

“Shut the fuck up.”

Nisha folded her arms over her chest. She kicked at a rock in the ankle deep water to no effect save for soaked shins. 

“So, what you’re saying that is while it was me who got us lost, if you had led we would have been lost an hour ago?”

Nisha staunchly refused to meet her eyes. She took a few steps away from Scarlett, splashing water and tearing up lotuses in her wake. 

“I’ll pull up the map. You lead.”

“Oh ho ho, that is too funny. Big, bad Nisha gets lost in her own backyard.”

She didn’t have a response. Nisha stormed off, her gun drawn and ready to blow anything that got in her way to hell. 

Nisha refocused her rage the instant she locked her sights on Top Knot. He charged at her, swinging wide with his cutlass. The blade caught her in the arm despite her shield and quick maneuvering. She slipped, nearly losing her footing on the slick rock. Hefting her shotgun, she fired blindly. The round clipped his torso, taking a chunk out of his side. She gritted her teeth. She adjusted her grip on her gun, ignoring the burning in her bicep. 

“Just die already!”

Nisha took a calculated risk by darting toward rusted stairs leading to the water. She took the shallow stairs two at a time, keeping her gun trained on Top Knot until she had high ground. She squeezed her trigger in rapid succession, carving a channel through his torso. The water around him bloomed crimson. 

“Suck it, as--”

The corners of her mouth twisted from a cocky smirk to an open mouthed look of horror as Dread Knot emerged from the metal cabin Sandman once called home. Nisha’s gaze immediately dropped to his bony form and back up to his skeletal face.

“Scar, why the fuck is he made of bones? Scar?”

She risked a glance behind her, only to find that Scarlett was nowhere to be seen. She swore under her breath as she emptied her shotgun’s clip into her foe. Dread Knot wasn’t remotely phased. He charged down the stairs at her, crimson blade raised high. She squeezed the trigger only to find that she had blown through her cache. She tossed the gun aside, drawing her beloved Law. 

“This is bullshit.”

Her rounds tore through the tattered remains of Dread Knot’s clothes, but he didn’t seem to take any damage from the hail of bullets she filled him with. He swung his blade with far more finesse than his brother. His glowing blade nearly caught her in the midriff. She took a clumsy step back. Her foot slid out from under her. Her arms wheeled above her for some handhold. Law went flying. Nisha landed hard at the bottom of the stairs. Her breathing came in wheezes as she groped for Law, her eyes never leaving her opponent. A litany of curses left her as she seized her pistol.

She put the pain in her leg and arm on the back burner, using it to sharpen her focus. She squeezed off a handful of rounds, each pinging off his skull. Her teeth tore through her lower lip in frustration when Dread Knot continued after her in his single-minded attempt to murder her. His jaw moved, no sounds escaping, but the words were clear even without lips. Die, die, die. Nisha fired off round after round until her cylinder clicked dry. Fear clouded her mind. She couldn’t hear anything except the sound of her ragged breathing and the rapid pounding of her heart. 

The gunshot that tore through her right shoulder came as a surprise. The boom was deafening, the pain blindingly white hot. Dread Knot collapsed in a heap of crumbled bones, his cursed blade clattering to the metal floor. Nisha’s lips moved, but no sound escaped her. Law fell to the ground. She turned, palm already clutched to the fresh wound in her shoulder. Behind her, flames licked at Dead Knot’s corpse. She wanted to make a smart ass comment about Scarlett having lost Greed, but there was a look in Scarlett’s eyes that gave her pause. 

“The hell was that for?”

“I thought you liked pain, Nisha.”

The red hot barrel of Scarlett’s pistol pressed into her fresh wound. Nisha hissed, lurching back on her wounded leg. 

“I may only have one eye, but I’m not nearly as blind as you think I am. I caught onto that little stunt you pulled earlier, and frankly, I’m tired of being the bigger woman. I saved your life, I nursed you back to health, gave you shelter, but you undermine everything I do. You accuse me of being a backstabber as you bloody well try your hand at stabbing me in the back.”

Scarlett took a step forward, the fingers of her metal hand curling. Her good eye narrowed, the usual good spark of humor nowhere to be found. Nisha sucked in a harsh breath. She staggered to her feet, panting from the effort. 

“Scarlett--”

“Don’t you ‘Scarlett’ me. I have been a good friend all these years. I’ve given so much but all you do is take. I’m going to give you a choice, Nisha--”

Scarlett grunted when Nisha slammed shoulder first into her. Nisha’s lunge wasn’t as powerful as she hoped, but she managed to catch Scarlett off balance. The effort winded her. She stood, elbows braced on her knees as she caught her breath. 

“I never asked to be saved, you bitch.”

Nisha swung clumsily, her fist only barely catching the corner of Scarlett’s jaw. Nisha’s head jerked back when Greed collided with her cheek. 

“I wasn’t about to let you die.”

Nisha swayed on her feet. Blood streamed down the front of her shirt. Her wounds throbbed as one. Darkness crept in on the edge of her vision, but all she saw was red. She lunged for Scarlett again. 

“It wasn’t your choice!”

Scarlett drove her fist into her stomach. Nisha stumbled back, her feet splashing in crystal blue water. She wheezed, clutching at her gut. 

“I saved you because I love you, you pillock.”

Nisha’s breaths came in harsh gasps. Her legs wobbled beneath her. She pressed her hand to her shoulder. Her palm came back sticky. She couldn’t feel her right hand. 

“You what?”

“Oh like you care.”

The buzzing rush of adrenaline had fled her. Her mind was foggy, her limbs sluggish. Her tongue felt thick in her mouth, and yet her heart hammered. Strong, cold fingers closed on her throat. The grip drove whatever breath she had left out from her. Black spread from the corners of her eyes threatening to overtake her. The once warm water of the grotto felt icy on her skin. Bubbles streamed from her lips. She thrashed uselessly in Scarlett’s grip. Just when she was sure she was going to die, she was drug from the water. She wheezed, her lungs burning. Her palms scrambled to find some hand hold. 

The water around them ran red. Scarlett’s fingers were still tightly wrapped around her throat. Fighting the darkness threatening to overcome her, she managed to string together a few words.

“Say… It… Again.” Speaking sent a new flare of agony through her. 

Scarlett’s jaw tensed, her grip loosening just enough for Nisha to catch her breath. Metal fingertips pressed into Nisha’s throat. She involuntarily flinched when cold steel punctured her neck. She shuddered as a cool stream of fluid rushed into her. On its heels was a rush of warmth that spread to her limbs. She slowly curled the fingers of her right hand. 

The world was too bright, too sharp. A painful heat blossomed below her stomach. Raw need replaced the fear and anger that had nearly consumed her. Her fingers finally found a grip on Scarlett’s shirt. She tugged Scarlett against her, smashing their lips together. Long, tapered fingers tangled in her hair, forcing her head back. Scarlett’s lips were hot against hers. Nisha could taste the metallic pang of her own blood; she didn’t care. 

Scarlett’s hand still hovered near her throat as she backed Nisha toward the bandit camp. Nisha struggled to find clasps or a zipper on the pirate's clothing. She groaned audibly when her hands found the ties to Scarlett’s corset. Her vest had already been thrown to the stairs and Scarlett was already tearing at the buttons on her shirt. Nisha stumbled on the shallow steps, falling flat on her ass. She took it in stride, using the time to pull the dagger from her boot. She hardly had time to adjust her grip on the blade before Scarlett seized her by the collar, dragging her back to her feet.

Nisha drug her dagger along Scarlett’s back, popping each individual tie. The tip of her wicked blade left a faint mark on Scarlett’s skin. The only thing that kept Scarlett’s top in place were the heavy leather paldrons. Neither paid any attention to their surroundings once they had found a sufficiently large desk. Nisha had long since given up on coherent thought. Her back slammed hard against the edge of the desk. Scarlett seized her by the seat of her pants, hoisting her onto the table in a single fluid motion. What remaining mental clarity Nisha had drained away when hot lips pressed against the fresh bruises marring her throat. Scarlett’s lips trailed from her throat to her collarbone. Nisha shuddered when Scarlett’s tongue traced the hollow of her throat. 

Cold fingers ran up her stomach; Scarlett’s icy touch was a godsend to her overheated skin. A single digit traced around her nipple. Nisha sucked in a harsh breath, fighting back her body’s urges as best as she could. 

“Is that all I had to do to get in your pants? Nearly kill you? I should have tried that last time…”

“F… Fuck you.”

“Oh, you will be soon enough, love.”

Nisha didn’t resist when Scarlett snatched the dagger from her hand. The blade slid over her collarbone, down to the clasp on the front of her bra. The fabric yielded under the slightest flick of the wrist. The knife fell to the metal grating with a clatter. A warm palm ventured down Nisha’s side, stopping at the outside of her thigh. Nisha squirmed under her touch.

“No take backsies, now.” 

“Red, shut up and fuck me.”

Nisha almost regretted saying those words. Almost. At least until she felt the wicked heat of Scarlett’s mouth on her breasts. Scarlett’s fingers trailed down to her belt. There was the tinkle of broken metal when the prosthetic hand closed around her belt buckle. Slim, strong fingers slid under the waistband of her pants. A single finger traced over her lower lips, teasing. Nisha gritted her teeth. Scarlett held eye contact, grinning wickedly. Her lips slowly worked their way back to her neck.

 

Nisha walked stiffly up the ramp to the Bacchanal. Despite the med hypo, she still felt battered and worse for the wear. Her clothing hung in tatters, partially from the Knot brothers and partially from Scarlett. She took care to avoid Scarlett for the better part of that evening. She wasn’t ashamed of her actions. She was just mortified that she gave into them. 

The night air was cold on the deck. She took her usual perch, the sun bleached fibers of the folding chair protesting under her weight. Weighing down her pocket was an Echo. She had stashed the Echo at the bottom of her footlocker shortly after gaining consciousness on the Bacchanal. Scarlett had not said a word when she found it nor did she do anything about the device. Nisha palmed the device, sliding it to her lap. She let her fingers trace the surface of the recorder. She released a slow breath as she hit the ‘play’ button. 

“Hey, Jack, thought I’d just leave you a message in case things go south. I’m not going down without a fight. Though, as I’m getting ready for this showdown, I find myself thinking: what the hell are we doing? If I go down, you’re next. They already got Wilhelm. We’re losing this war. Not sure if this is how I pictured myself going down.”

There was a pause in the recording. Undoubtedly she took a long swig of whiskey. The pause ended with the sound of glass on wood. 

“It’s been fun, Jack. I might’ve… Forget it. I don’t think you’ll ever listen to this damn thing. Do what you have to.”

The recorded ended with a soft click. Nisha sat in silence for a moment. She released a breath from her nostrils, glaring at the incriminating device. She tossed it to the deck, drawing Law in a smooth motion. She fired shots into the Echo until the cylinder ran dry. There wasn’t much left of the recorder, just a small heap of shattered circuit boards and cracked plastic. In the air hung the acrid scent of overheated silicone and gunpowder. The gun slid back into her holster, in a fit as snug as a glove. She leaned back into the chair, listening to it creak under her. 

Nisha sat forward, jamming five dollars into the telescope. The view wasn’t particularly breathtaking. But then again, nothing compared to the view from Helios and Elpis. Her gaze swept over pirate camps and the small swells of sand that were actually mountains carved by the sea. Slowly, her gaze worked up until the scope settled on the familiar H in the sky. She found herself hoping some idiot would send it crashing to the surface-- of either Elpis or Pandora, she didn’t really give a shit, she just hoped it burned. Her view was cut off. 

She was about to jam in another five dollars until a familiar face took up the scope’s view; it was quite terrifying up close. Nisha jerked back, nearly toppling the chair over in an effort to put more space between her and Scarlett.

“Shit, Red, you tryin’ to kill me?”

“After today? Not so much. I’m rather curious to see what will happen next.”

Nisha watched as Scarlett’s gaze swept over what was left of the Echo and the new bullet holes on her deck. Scarlett pursed her lips, but soon an understanding look settled on her. 

“What do you want?”

“Just wanted to find out what the ruckus was.”

“Well, you know.” 

“I wanted reassurance that you didn’t decide to take out your frustrations on my crew.” 

Nisha snorted, defiantly crossing her arms. She cocked her chin at Scarlett, daring her to try something. 

“I needed it gone, and I don’t trust anyone to do my work for me.”

“Point taken. Do you need to talk about it?”

“Kiss my ass.”

Scarlett’s smirk was positively evil. She tilted her head with the slightest lift to her eyebrow.

“All you have to do is say when.”

Despite everything, Nisha chuckled. She couldn’t remember the last time she smiled. Probably the day her mom died. 

“You’re something else, Red.” 

For just a moment, the sat there, grinning at each other, the way they used to, when things were good between them. It was almost easy to forget the hell that they put each other through.


	7. Doldroms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has sat in my documents for months on end. Unfortunately, after this posting I will be taking a hiatus on this particular project because I am far too burned out on it to continue, at least for a while. 
> 
> If it feels a little slapdash, it's because I pulled the opening from a fic that was left in my unpublished works folder. Might go back and fix it, but definitely not any time soon.

She should have been elated when she heard the news. The bitch was dead, the tyrant fallen. Instead, Nisha felt cold, hollow. It should have been her hands around her mother’s throat that killed her. At the very least her bullet. Turbocancer was too good a fate for the psychotic bitch. 

Nisha chambered a round in her pistol and spun the barrel. Cold steel brushed her temple like a lover’s kiss. Click. She pulled the trigger. Nothing. Today was not the day. She took out her rage by decimating an entire bandit camp. Fifty of the bastards and yet she still felt nothing. The bounty meant nothing. Nothing had much of a meaning to her lately. She should have acted faster, killed the bitch when she first had the chance.

_“Ammi, no!”_

Nisha’s jaw tightened, her nails dug into her palm. She spun the barrel again. Another pull of the trigger. Another dud. She took a pull from a half-empty whiskey bottle. 

There wasn’t a word strong enough to describe how much Nisha hated her mother. The woman drove her husband to swallowing his own gun. He blew out his own brains to get away from the wife he supposedly loved. Figures that the town’s sheriff was so cowed by his own wife he killed himself. Coward. 

Another slug of whiskey, another glance at Law. That gun was everything to her. The most loyal companion since she killed her dog. She blew a puff of air out of her nose. She didn’t need anyone. She didn’t care about any person but herself.

Nisha barely batted an eye when the door to her rundown cabin flew open. Law was in her hand, the single bullet mostly forgotten about. The intruder raised placating palms as Nisha drew back the hammer. Light glinted off of their left hand, or where their left hand should have been. Nisha kept her gun level.

“The fuck’re you doing here, Red?”

“I really wish you’d stop calling me that.”

Scarlett kept her hands up, stepping into the dim light offered by a half-burned out bulb.

“Answer the damn question.”

“Testy, aren’t you? I got your Echo. I’ve been trying to contact you for hours. I thought you did something stupid.”

Nisha snorted. Law was lowered, keeping level with Scarlett’s breastbone. She picked up her whiskey once more, taking a swallow. 

“You shoulda let me kill her when I had the chance.”

“What does it matter if she’s already dead?”

Scarlett cringed when Nisha’s finger twitched over the trigger guard. The gun hit the desk and Nisha was on her feet. She was across the room, swinging at Scarlett fast as a rattlesnake. Scarlett took a step back, narrowly avoiding a fist to her nose. The next blow found its target, splitting her lip. Nisha swung erratically, not aiming her rain of blows. Scarlett caught her wildly flailing arms in one hand, squeezing thin wrists as tight as a vice. Nisha drove her knee into Scarlett’s stomach, winding her opponent. Scarlett doubled over, letting go of Nisha’s wrists.

Something collided with the side of Nisha’s head. Her vision blurred before going black.

Consciousness slowly trickled back. Her mind was moving sluggishly. There was pressure on her wrists and a knot on the side of her head. She cracked open an eye, flinching at the bright light above her. Her breathing was harsh. She felt her jaw being pried open, cold water flooded her mouth, threatening to drown her. She spat out a mouthful, thrashing against her restraints.

Nisha caught her breath after a harsh coughing fit racked her ribs. Once more she tried opening her eyes. The muzzle of a gun met her gaze. Part of her wanted to scramble back, away from the weapon. The rest of her wanted to choke the life out whatever moron decided to capture her. 

“Get that fucking thing out of my face or I’ll find a way to kill you where I am.” Her voice was a low rasp. Her throat drier than the sands she called home. 

“Awake at last. You put up a good fight, love.”

“Fuck off, Scarlett. And get that thing away from me.”

Scarlett toyed with the pistol, tracing her thumb over the trigger guard. Very slowly she extended her arm and set the gun on a nearby table. A quick glance around told Nisha that she was still in her cabin. She tried to move her wrists only to hear the creak of new leather. Scarlett had found her new cuffs. 

“Sorry, I couldn’t find the metal ones you sheriff types like. This had to do seeing as you were quite tee’d off.”

“The fuck is goin’ on, Red?

Scarlett leaned forward in her chair. Nisha saw several deep purple bruises on her face. There was a scab on Scarlett’s lip. She had one hell of a shiner over her good eye. 

“You tried to kill me after a small spat. Yes, I should have let you kill your mum. I’m quite sorry I got in your way.”

“Let me go and you won’t regret not letting me kill that bitch.”

“Clever, but my answer to that is no.”

“Why are you doing this?”

Scarlett leaned back in her chair, her face disappearing into darkness. The well worn desk chair creaked with her movement. 

“Because I care. Someone has to pull you out of your self destructive spiral and it may as well be your bestie.”

“I don’t need your pity. Get the fuck out of my life. I should’ve killed you when me met.” Nisha spat the words, her throat burning. 

“You don’t have the guts for it.”

Nisha thrashed against her bindings. Her bedframe groaned with her struggles as she tried to break free of the cuffs. They didn’t give. Nisha panted, her ribs heaving from the effort. She refused to let on that she was weak with hunger and exhaustion. 

“I’ll kill you myself.”

Clenching her teeth, Nisha started in at her cuffs. The ones on her ankles were looser but she couldn’t get a good grip on them. Her arms were pinned too far above her head and too loosely for her to use torsion to rip them free. She had a feeling Scarlett was just watching her. Watching her with an expression of an off-worlder watching a dying pup skag for the first time. It sickened her. Nisha fell back on the bed, her breathing labored. Every breath hurt. 

Scarlett leaned forward again, her forearms resting on her knees.

“We have an agreement. I don’t kill you unless you betray me and you give me the same courtesy. I’d rather not hurt you unless I have to, love.”

Scarlett let her thumb graze Nisha’s lips, drawing out the motion. Nisha snapped at her, her teeth clicking. 

“Now you’re just doing that to be nasty.”

“Let me go and get the fuck outta my life.”

“Can’t do that, sorry.”

Blood dripped from where Nisha thrashed in her cuffs. Her skin was torn and chaffed. Nisha had grown abnormally calm. Scarlett leaned away, knowing all too well that it was time for her to keep her distance. 

“Let me out of these damn cuffs. I won’t hurt you.”

“No. I know you too well, Nish.” 

Nisha held tension in her wiry arms. Her palms streamed blood from the tiny crescents torn by her nails. Her bindings weren’t loose enough for her to sneak her arm under her mattress and pull out the revolver she stashed there. Law was across the room, her whip still hung by the door. She couldn’t remember where she put her bowie knife. She silently seethed, sore muscles trembling. 

“Bet you don’t have the guts to take me.”

Scarlett’s weight settled on her, her flesh and blood hand closing on her windpipe. As much as she wanted to fight, she found it far too hard to resist, not when she was so tired, not when the dull ache settled in on her bones. She conscripted the memory to the furthest recesses of her mind to be long forgotten until that day in Haytor’s Folly.   
\--

The cabin was still, dozy and calm. They settled in their own beds as though nothing had happened between them. As though they could return to their hesitant friendship.

“Hey, Red.”

“Yeah, Nish?” Scarlett’s voice sounded distant, like she was half-dozing.

“Did I ever tell you that Jack had a kid?”

There was a thump from Scarlett’s direction. Nisha smirked to herself; it was easy to feel smug when Scarlett was around.

“What?” 

She heard a litany of soft curses coming from Scarlett’s side of the cabin.

“Yeah, he had a daughter. Named her Angel. She was a siren. He… locked her up and used her to charge the vault key.”

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“Didn’t think to. I was seeing so much red when I found out that I nearly killed him. Maybe I should have. I’m pretty sure the whole showdown shit was so I could take it out on someone. His own damn kid, Red.”

“And you got mad I worked with vault hunters.” Scarlett’s voice was higher up-- she must have finally gotten herself back into her bed.

“I’m not saying sorry.”

“Did you find out what happened to her?”

“Heard it over old Echos. She… died. Jack blamed the vault hunters. I…” Nisha swallowed, studying the ceiling as she tried to find her words.

“I think he’s the reason she’s dead.”

“It eats away at you, doesn’t it?”

“Beat the shit outta anyone you want, but leave the kids out of it. The hell did she do wrong?”

Scarlett shifted on her bed. Nisha heard the telltale creak of her prosthetic’s leather straps. When she turned her head, Scarlett was standing beside her hammock. A soft palm brushed her cheek. She tried to turn away, but something kept her from moving.

“Do you want me to contact the vault hunters, find out what happened to her?”

Nisha avoided her eye at first. She waited a moment, releasing a slow breath.

“Yeah.”

“Didn’t think you were the type to feel all guilty. What did she look like anyway?”

“I mostly know her from a pic on his desk. Black hair, blue eyes, big ol’ smile. Freckles. Cute kid.”

“A siren, you say?”

Nisha nodded, still keeping an eye on Scarlett. The hand had been pulled from her cheek, but it lingered on the edge of the netting.

“Got all those tattoos?”

“Yeah.”

Scarlett pursed her lips. Nisha rolled over, trying not to tip the hammock over for the umpteenth time. 

“Hey, you just gonna stand there, or are you going to do something?”

“I didn’t think you liked me that way.”

“Maybe I changed my mind.”

“Told you I wasn’t all bad, Nish. And maybe, you aren’t either.”

“Don’t get all soft on me. It’s disgusting.”

Scarlett settled in beside her, all smiles. Maybe it wasn’t all that bad after all.


End file.
